Monuments
by Ressick
Summary: How Wizarding Britain marked the Second Voldemort War.


_Author's Note: I wrote this shortly after finishing Deathly Hallows, but fiddled with it for more than a year. It was my way of working through the end of the series._

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><p>After the wounded had been moved to St Mungo's, after the debris had been cleared and the damage repaired, after the wave of funerals, the rebuilding of magical Britain truly began. Kingsley Shacklebolt was confirmed as Minister of Magic. Bigoted laws were repealed, unjustly imprisoned wizards and witches released from Azkaban, and a spate of trials for Death Eaters and their supporters sped through the wizarding justice system. The great Death Eater statue in the Ministry of Magic was removed, and in a fit of macabre humor, turned to dust by a small group of Muggleborn DA members.<p>

As things slowed down, as Minister Shacklebolt pushed through needed reforms, publicly supported by Harry Potter and the other heroes of the Battle for Hogwarts, there came a need to remember. The survivors of the DA and the Order of the Phoenix came together then, deciding upon a great mural. Two, actually, each the same, one to be placed leading into the Great Hall of Hogwarts, and the other, larger, hung in the Ministry of Magic near where the statues had been. Dean Thomas, apprenticed to a Wizard portrait artist, worked for over a year on them, and Hermione Granger adapted standard portrait charms for the special needs of these paintings.

On the third anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts, both murals were fully installed, and unveiled to the public in a large double ceremony – one for the survivors and families of the fallen at Hogwarts, and another at the Ministry a few hours later. As the coverings were pulled off the Hogwarts mural, Hermione and Dean stepped forward from the crowd, casting the final charms to bring the mural to life.

It showed a large swath of the grounds of Hogwarts, forever green on a beautiful spring day. Towards the forest and near the lake, those who had sacrificed everything, Aurors and Order, from the first War ambled along, reading books, playing games, chatting amongst themselves, waving to the people looking at them. Dean had used photographs and donated memories via Pensieve to paint the people he had never met, who had even died before his birth. Older attendees recognized Fabian and Gideon Prewett, Edgar Bones, Caradoc Dearborn, Benjy Fenwick, Marlene McKinnon, Dorcas Meadowes, all dead or assumed as such, as well as Frank and Alice Longbottom, tortured into insanity. From the front row of attendees, Neville smiled, tears running down his face, as his parents waved excitedly at him.

In the foreground were those who had died later on, fallen during the Second War, or been at the Battle of Hogwarts itself. Standing in the very center of a large group, upon Harry's insistence, was Dobby. The little elf's portrait beamed, wearing a garish outfit he had been particular fond of, and a small pile of Hermione's knitted hats upon his head. Perched on the pile of hats, as she had once done fifth year, was Hedwig, hooting softly. Flanking Dobby stood Albus Dumbledore, eyes twinkling merrily, and Cedric Diggory in the Hufflepuff colors he had worn during the last challenge of the Triwizard Tournament.

Grouped around the central trio, towards the right, were Ted Tonks, standing next to his daughter, her hair a bright pink. Holding her hand was Remus Lupin, looking ecstatic as the other Marauders stood near him. As their shades had accompanied Harry into the forest, he had insisted they all be there in the front. Sirius Black had an arm slung over Remus on one side, and James Potter on the other. James had intertwined his free hand with Lily, and she beamed down at the crowd. Next to her, standing with a scowl on his face, and one hand pulling up his robe to display the Dark Mark, was Severus Snape. Every so often Lily would take her eyes off the crowd, and reach out her free hand to pat Snape on the shoulder, looking incredibly pleased to see him there. When she did, Snape's eyes softened, and his angry scowl became more of a stern warning to those who would follow down his lonely path.

To the left of the central trio was Fred Weasley, a broad grin across his face. Only when he looked upon his twin in the crowd did his smile fade a little. As the portrait Fred locked eyes with the Weasleys, he thrust his fist forward, and opened it to show an ear on his palm. Grinning, he mouthed the word "holey" at George. Next to him stood Colin Creevey, his ever-present camera hanging around his neck, wand at the ready. Occasionally, he would slip his wand into his back pocket and snap pictures of the others in the portrait. When he did that, the battered man next to him rolled his eyes, both magical and mundane. Mad-Eye Moody crossed his arms across his chest then, mouthing invocations against blasted-off buttocks to the crowd. Further along was Professor Burbage, murdered for teaching wizards about Muggles, Emmeline Vance, and Bathilda Bagshot. MLE head Amelia Bones stood among them proudly, waving at her niece, and even Ministry employee Bertha Jorkins, amongst others who had fallen. On the very edge of the foreground, Moaning Myrtle leaned against the side of the mural, a testament to the early start to Voldemort's murdering ways, and next to her, looking utterly bewildered, was Frank Bryce, the old Muggle gardener from the Riddle house.

The mural was even more magical than most Wizarding portraits. Hermione had specially charmed it for certain things to appear at various times.

For the forty-eight hours surrounding the full moon each month, Remus morphed into a werewolf, and frolicked near the Whomping Willow with the animagi forms of James and Sirius. Once a year, on the full moon closest to the anniversary of his death – in honor of his inability to kill Harry and thereby dying himself – a small rat appeared with them.

Every September first, a Ford Anglia would fly into the Whomping Willow, and then drive itself off into the Forbidden Forest, just before the start of the Welcoming Feast.

Also on September first, Severus Snape and Lily Evans appeared as the children they had been at eleven, wearing plain Hogwarts robes without the crest of their Houses over their chests. James let go of her on that day, and she linked her arm with Snape's, using her free hand to wave to all the incoming first-years. Snape's Dark Mark disappeared then, and he looked merely small and awkward, all the menace leaving his face. He shoved his hands in his pockets, and very occasionally smiled timidly at a passing first-year. Tied somehow with the Sorting Hat (and Hermione never explained how she did it), every first-year that Snape smiled at was sorted into Slytherin, though he didn't smile at all those in his former House. He would continue to occasionally nod at those particular Slytherins during their Hogwarts careers, and years later, he would sometimes nod at them as they walked past the mural in the Ministry. The very moment that the last child was Sorted during the feast, a Gryffindor crest appeared on Lily's robe, and a Slytherin crest on Snape's. But they never let go of each other until midnight, when they both rapidly grew into the adults they had been, embraced briefly, and stepped back to their usual positions, the Dark Mark appearing on Snape's arm and a wedding ring on Lily's finger.

Later in the fall, on October fifth, a parchment appeared, every signature of those from Dumbledore's Army on it, and Dumbledore himself would take it to post on the base of the central Quidditch hoop, leaving it on display for the next year.

One late spring afternoon each year, Fred Weasley thrust his wand into the air, shouted "Accio broom", and then jumped astride as it came to him. A second broom appeared, though one could only see the rider's ear. The two brooms spent that afternoon flying around in the sky, and setting off fireworks. Far into the night, the mural was filled with huge fiery dragons, phoenixes, and more conventional displays that would last for hours, occasionally bumping into another firework and mutating into something new.

June was busy for the mural. On one day, Dumbledore's hand shriveled into what it had been on the day of his death, and a broken ring appeared on one finger, a reminder of both the price he had paid and his moment of weakness. For reasons they never explained, Harry and Hermione had insisted that on June sixth, a hippogriff (that happened to look a great deal like Witherwings) fly into the mural from the direction of Hagrid's cabin. It landed near Sirius, and he climbed onboard. They then spent much of the rest of the day flying around, occasionally giving the others rides. On the twenty-fourth, the Triwizard Cup appeared in Cedric's hands.

Once in awhile, usually on the day of a big match outside the mural, the various groups would meld together, and a number of people would mount brooms, playing a pick-up game of Quidditch. On those days, every time, Fred Weasley would play Beater, and the other Beater on his team would be invisible, except for a single ear.

The greatest charm Hermione and Dean had pulled off occurred on the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts each year. On that day, the mural was very crowded. Everyone who had fought for the Light appeared that day in the mural, survivors and fallen. Each looked exactly as they had then, the same ages and clothes, and for many, at the very moment they had been injured, the same injury appeared on their mural counterpart. During the day, all the people would greet their friends and family. The mural grounds filled with wizards and witches – students, professors, Hogwarts staff, as well as the townspeople of Hogsmeade and the parents of students, who entered the picture led by Aberforth, a legion of house elves, centaurs, and the giant Grawp. The centaurs tended to keep to the edges of the forest, but Firenze would spend the day talking in low tones with Dumbledore. In thanks, only once on that day, Narcissa Malfoy could be seen running across the grounds, screaming for her son.

Seven years after the murals were installed, Teddy Lupin stood as an unsorted first-year before the one in Hogwarts. An eleven year old Severus Snape nodded at him. The Metamorphmagus werewolf smiled, turning to the images of his parents, who both grinned, shaking their heads in amusement, before the boy turned and stepped into the Great Hall, as fierce as a lion but as cunning as a snake.


End file.
